Re: Darian Stewart

I like his play and i think with him an mikel we can look the other way for a starting safety.They might not be top 5 or anything but they played good enough to start for us,right now we have much bigger glaring holes in other positions hat need to be addressed.Ill be happy with them two starting next season

Re: Darian Stewart

Originally Posted by Nick

I didn't put limits on him; I simply said how much upside the guy has is anybody's guess. I doubt the 32 NFL franchises that passed on him in the draft thought he'd become a starter in this league, so clearly they were off when gauging his upside. I certainly think it's possible fans may be as well, especially when we start writing things like "star in the making" or "potential Pro Bowler" in our collective dream books. Kidding aside, I agree that Stewart has improved this season to the point of becoming a serviceable starter for this team. Safety is one spot the Rams shouldn't have to worry too much about going into next season.

I think he is better than "serviceable," Stewart did not start the first 2 games and he was inactive another, and he still has better stats across the board then troy polamalu, ed reed, and adrian wilson and Michael griffin

Re: Darian Stewart

Originally Posted by Will51

I think he is better than "serviceable," Stewart did not start the first 2 games and he was inactive another, and he still has better stuff across the board then troy polamalu, ed reed, and adrian wilson and Michael griffin

Well, we're in agreement about Stewart being a keeper on defense, which I think is the main point. We'll have to agree to disagree on where he falls on the spectrum, because I think he's much closer to the "serviceable" side than he is the "Reed/Polamalu" side at this point. Only time will tell whether or not he gets there.

Re: Darian Stewart

Originally Posted by Nick

Well, we're in agreement about Stewart being a keeper on defense, which I think is the main point. We'll have to agree to disagree on where he falls on the spectrum, because I think he's much closer to the "serviceable" side than he is the "Reed/Polamalu" side at this point. Only time will tell whether or not he gets there.

by no means am I saying he is as good as those players, I just think he is better than serviceable.

Re: Darian Stewart

Originally Posted by Will51

by no means am I saying he is as good as those players, I just think he is better than serviceable.

I know EXACTLY what Nick is saying. At the moment, league wide, he is just another promising young player. But at the Rams his play stands out like a sore thumb, because of his big hitting, and the lack of playmakers on defense. I do think he has the potential to be more than just a serviceable player though.? Unlike the rest of the team.

Re: Darian Stewart

Originally Posted by Nick

Well, we're in agreement about Stewart being a keeper on defense, which I think is the main point. We'll have to agree to disagree on where he falls on the spectrum, because I think he's much closer to the "serviceable" side than he is the "Reed/Polamalu" side at this point. Only time will tell whether or not he gets there.

And by serviceable meaning we don't really need a big play safety seeing that our D-line plays well enough to blanket our secondary on a consistent basis.

Re: Darian Stewart

Originally Posted by Nick

I didn't put limits on him; I simply said how much upside the guy has is anybody's guess.

Nick,

Not to pick nits here, but how much upside all players have is anyone's guess. I was reacting more to the un-drafted free agent qualifier you slapped on the earlier post. All in all a draft is comprised of 200+ players. That leaves a lot of potential out on the streets, so to speak. I hope, as I am sure you do, that Stewart exceeds our wildest dreams and plays good football for the Rams for many years to come.

Re: Darian Stewart

I would say a little more than serviceable. He is second year undrafted player who is already making secondary calls. Against the run he has been a heat seeking missile he has missed some tackles, but he can definitely be coached up to take better angles. Coverage has vastly improved from last year he was forced to cover WRs because of the lack of secondary depth he did a pretty good job even though his strength is probably in zone. He is also a great blitzer behind Long and Lauranatis I think he has to be third on our team in terms of defensive MVP. He is young and he could get even better.

Re: Darian Stewart

Originally Posted by Chris58

Nick,

Not to pick nits here, but how much upside all players have is anyone's guess.

Well, if you want to go down that road, all evaluation is really a guess. But conventional wisdom tells us that expectations and upside is generally lower for players taken in the late rounds of the draft or those not taken at all.

That doesn't mean any late round or undrafted free agent is doomed to mediocrity-at-best; we've seen plenty of examples of these players slipping through the evaluation process and emerging as a player on the field. But for every diamond, there are probably hundreds of lumps of coal. For instance, if it was easy to find the Tom Bradys, Matt Hasselbecks, and Marc Bulgers of the sixth round, then teams wouldn't spend first overall picks on quarterbacks. But they do, often, because it's so much harder to hit on late round or undrafted guys.

Is Darian Stewart one of the diamonds? So far, he's been a bright spot on a relatively bad team. Could he continue to stand out on a more talented team, for a fan base that isn't as desperate for something positive to cling on to? As you said, I hope he continues to exceed expectations, but personally, I'm going to pump the brakes a bit rather than get caught up in lofty visions some have put forward coming to fruition.

Re: Darian Stewart

[QUOTE=Nick;409222

Is Darian Stewart one of the diamonds? So far, he's been a bright spot on a relatively bad team. Could he continue to stand out on a more talented team, for a fan base that isn't as desperate for something positive to cling on to?[/QUOTE]------------------------------------------------------------

Let me just say that the fact that he may not stand out as much on a better team is not necessarily an indictment of his personal skill level.

It may in fact be simply an indictment of how much more talent he's surrounded by.

In other words, just because he may not stand out as much on a more talented team, doesn't mean he is not just as good a player a lot of us thinks he is.

Rams defense needs work too, LBs and linemen. Chris Long and James Launaitis had decent play
this year, but do they really scare anybody? Not Beanie Wells or Dallas'
Noname RB. Stewart indeed is a nice young player for the Rams.

Re: Darian Stewart

Originally Posted by dgr828

Rams defense needs work too, LBs and linemen. Chris Long and James Launaitis had decent play
this year, but do they really scare anybody? Not Beanie Wells or Dallas'
Noname RB. Stewart indeed is a nice young player for the Rams.

I know where your coming from dgr828. C. Long and JL55 may not be the flashiest players on defense.? But they are still very consistent performers, and great building blocks to this franchise.!

Re: Darian Stewart

Originally Posted by dgr828

Rams defense needs work too, LBs and linemen. Chris Long and James Launaitis had decent playthis year, but do they really scare anybody? Not Beanie Wells or Dallas' Noname RB. Stewart indeed is a nice young player for the Rams.

Laurinitis is playing at a pro bowl level and long is spectacular this year. They just need many other pieces so their success can show more

Re: Darian Stewart

Originally Posted by dgr828

Rams defense needs work too, LBs and linemen. Chris Long and James Launaitis had decent play
this year, but do they really scare anybody? Not Beanie Wells or Dallas'
Noname RB. Stewart indeed is a nice young player for the Rams.

Only you could find a problem with Long and Laurinaitis' play this year. Who else would be able to put up 13 sacks given this team, this offense, and this run defense? Given extremely limited passing down situations, Chris is an A+ dominating left end in this league. And Laurinaits is always around the ball, either deflecting or intercepting passes or making tackles. The only reason we don't hear his name more this year is that Stewart and Mikell are making tons of plays from the safety position to help out on runs.

Re: Darian Stewart

Stewart is at best serviceable. Mediocre speed on a good day and he takes poor angles in run support. It's ignored I guess that Stewart being out of position is a big part of the problem with our run support. Many times he misses tackles because he doesn't wrap up low. When you watch him next time, watch how he tries to make a huge hit - high on the player. Fans often like the big hit but it's not how you survive in the NFL.

Youtube has a highlight video of him. While I hate highlight videos (who doesn't look great when you only pick their highlights?), almost every tackle is an above the waste tackle.